As far as I can remember in my life, like every music lover does, I’m relating specific songs or sometimes whole albums with events, places, emotions etc. Even working on a project is not an exception.

Recently, it came into my attention that in every project I’m working on, there are two albums that are always part of my playlist, so they can qualify to be called my projects’ soundtrack. On certain times in a project, especially when a lot of mental engergy and even fantasy is required, I find myself listening to those two albums because their music inspires me and provides me with a rhythm that helps me think without distracting me at all.

The fist one is from a Greek songwriter called Konstantinos Vita and it’s the music composed for Dimitris Papaioannou’s (the art director of the Athens 2004 Olympic Ceremony) theatrical production called “2″. Below is the video of his song called “Funky Beep”.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGfN6bdFauc

The other one is Moby‘s famous album called “Play”. Below is the video of his song called “Natural Blues”.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGxA6-dGOmc

What do you prefer to listen while working?

The “404″ or “Not Found” error message is an HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server but the server could not find what was requested (read more about the HTTP 404 error).

The motivation towards a custom 404 error page is to create a more (visually) appealing, usable and user-friendly page than the default (and dull) 404 error page of your Web server. The main reason to do it is to give the option to a user that landed on the error page to stick to the website. There’s nothing new about it but a lot of Web developers overlook or underestimate it.

There is a number of elements you can use in a custom 404 page:

• First, an image or some text to explain to the user what happened. If the website’s visitors don’t have a technical background, a “404 error” message won’t explain anything to them, so try to explain it without any technical details. You can also have a humorous message or image. After all, an amused visitor is always better than a frustrated one!
• A must have, is a link to the homepage so the user can have an alternative of closing the browser or re-typing a URL.
• Another good idea is to include a search box.
• You can also provide some links to popular or interesting content of your website.

Below is the image I’m using for my 404 error page:

Finally, some resources (external links) for 404 error pages:

• The Perfect 404 (@ A List Apart)
• 404 Error Pages, One More Time (@ Smashing Magazine)
• 50 Creative and Inspiring 404 Pages (@ Webdesigner Depot)

Of course, the web is full of creative and innovative 404 error pages. Feel free to post a link to your own!

It took me several seconds to write the title, but as time passes, I’m getting better at it!

It’s the first time I have one of these incredible machines in my hands and I’m excited. It’s an amazing feeling to have a powerful (for its size) PC that fits into your palm. There are amazing capabilities in them and the best thing is they can be carried everywhere. On the other hand, there are several privacy concerns but this is another (huge) discussion.

I was considering it an expensive and unuseful (at least for most of the people) trend. Maybe that’s still true, but every technology enthusiast out there should try it, at least once!

I’m not a social media fan, but I thought to give twitter a try. I’m using it for a month now and I have a question for all the twitter users: How can you manage this enormous amount of information??

The first couple of days (when I was following about 80 users), I tried to read every single tweet while I was working on my computer. So, I scheduled the tweetdeck’s updates at a 5 minute interval. Big mistake! If I was lucky enough to read all the tweets before the next update, I had only 1-2 minutes to continue my work before the next one! Afterwards, I decided to read some tweets every couple of hours. It was ok, until I started to follow 250 users. There is no way to keep track of all those tweets! Of course, you need to follow to be followed, but I don’t think that anyone that follows 1000 users reads the tweets of even 100 of them (unless this is what he’s doing for a living). So, what’s the point?

There is very interesting information in there, but I have to spend at least 2-3 hours per day to read everything that interests me. In my twitter month, I stopped reading forums or exploring blogs that I like because I didn’t have the time anymore; twitter sucked it all!

My solution? I should either reduce the number of the users that I follow, or keep all of them (and even add more) creating a separate group of 30-50 users whose tweets I will actually read and interact with. But, isn’t it hypocritical?

I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject!

Early in 2007, Mark Ontkush wrote on his blog that a Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year. Almost instantly, Blackle appeared among similar projects and soon became the most popular of them. Blackle’s creators are basing Ontkush’s theory on this research paper. Google on the other hand doesn’t seem to agree with the theory, based on this post on its official blog. Blackle and the whole theory have received (as expected) strong criticism. I hope they figure out soon which theory is correct, so i can change my background!

In the mean time, take a look at some things you can do now to reduce the energy used by your computer as proposed by the Official Google Blog. It’s on the same article as before, so you don’t have to click again.

• turn on the power management features. Virtually all computers today have the ability to switch into low-power modes automatically when they’re idle; very few computers have this capability enabled! Here’s how to do it on computers running Windows XP.
• turn off your monitor and computer when you’re not using them
• turn down the brightness on your monitor
• make sure your next computer meets the efficiency standards of Climate Savers Computing (an efficient computer uses up to 50% less energy than a conventional one)
• to find the most efficient PCs available today, look for the words “EnergyStar 4.0 compliant.”

Although i once did it for a living (after a short ..MSc break, i’m doing it again), i initially decided not to build a custom template for my blog, but to use a pre-made wordpress template. My choice for now is was the minimalistic Hemingway. But is this the ‘right’ thing to do? Let me rephrase that: is there a ‘right’ thing to do?

In my case, i just wanted to start writting without many concerns about the website’s look and so i did. Now it’s the right time to build my very own (without any rush though). Although i knew it from the beginning that someday i was going to build my own template, i placed myself into the position of someone who had to pay for one.

From the developer’s point of view, the only disadvantage is the personal effort he has to put in. On the other hand, the buyer’s only concern is the price. The three main advantages of the custom over the pre-made templates are:

• Customization. You can place whatever you what, wherever you want and alter things easily.

• Maintenance. You’ve made it (or the person you paid to make it and possibly maintain it too), so you know where everything is and what to change when needed.

• Uniqueness is the key-word that is associated with branding, being memorable etc. How can someone remember your website when it’s the same like someone else’s?

Honestly, i couldn’t find any advantage other than the price to the pre-made templates, but bear in mind that “the more you pay, the better you get” is not true every time.

So, i advice you to spend some time/money to build/buy your own website template. Here and here, you can read other people’s thoughts on the subject. I’d be pleased to read your thoughts (especially those who disagree with me).